On March 17, the seventh year of Chongzhen, the flags of Qingshui Fort in the southeast of Suzhou Acropolis were fluttering, and there was a constant flow of people and horses outside the fort.
Qingshui Fort is the protruding part of Jiuquan Oasis to the east. The south, north and east sides are surrounded by Gobi Desert. It faces Gaotai Camel City 150 miles away from the desert.
The soldiers and horses of the Sixth Battalion of the Marshal's Mansion were stationed throughout the Jiuquan Oasis. There was only one reason why Liu Chengzong chose to convene the generals for discussion at Qingshui Fort, which was close to the front line. There were no ordinary people in this place.
At this time of year, there are too many people running around in the Jiuquan Oasis. The Marshal's Mansion is about to divide the fields, and the summer grain is about to mature. The people are busy collecting the beans in their own fields before the fields are divided. It is also easy for the court's spies to hide among them and send them to the police. Report their intelligence to the east.
The good thing about Qingshui Fort is that it is desolate. The surrounding military fields have all turned into desert. The soldiers are not willing to stay here, let alone the common people.
When Liu Chengzong arrived at Qingshui Fort with his guard team, more than 200 guards had gathered in this loess fortress that had been in disrepair. All the senior generals of the Marshal's Army had arrived to welcome him outside the fort gate.
Everyone immediately entered the garrison office in the fort. Everyone knew that the generalissimo convened the meeting to prepare for the next battle, so everyone looked serious. They had prepared maps and other military equipment in the government office, and were just waiting for Liu Chengzong to start. Discussed.
Participating in the discussion were not only Yang Yao, Mo Yujing, Gao Yingdeng, Wei Qian'er, Zhang Tianlin, Feng Yu, and Tang Bingqian Commander Ma Xiang, but also He Huchen, Yang Qi, Wang Chengen, and Li Bei who served as staff officers from Huben Camp.
As well as Wang Ziyong, the leader of the Sanjiehui, Hu Zhishen, the surrendered general of the Suzhou camp, Song Xian, the Tongzhi of Suzhou Wei, Guitu, the chief general of the Chahar camp, and Huang Shengxiao, who stayed behind to besiege Jiayuguan.
"Everyone has had a hard time coming here. We will keep things simple for the time being. We will report any shortages of troops and materials in each battalion."
Liu Chengzong sorted out the wooden figurines placed on the map and listened to the reports one by one by his generals. Among them, only Ma Xiang and Zhang Tianlin had any significance.
Ma Xiang, the general manager of Tangqi Qian, said that they were short of tea, sugar, and salt, which were essential supplies for Tang soldiers. Fortunately, the shortage was not much, so Liu Chengzong asked Hu Zhishen and Song Xian to solve it.
Zhang Tianlin was even more straightforward. She took out the list she had written in advance and read it out: tent felts, axes and shovels, ropes and sacks, artillery ammunition... Liu Shizi looked at him sideways, waved his hand and said, "Don't read it, I have all the missing things." I know, go down and find Han Shipan to adjust it for you, they are all available in Suzhou."
The most outrageous thing was Wei Qian'er. He said that he lacked weapons, equipment and food. Liu Shishi rolled his eyes. This kid came to show off his superiority.
He was ordered to surrender the forts in Suzhou and organized a thousand headquarters. The standard battalion of 3,600 people became a strengthened battalion of 4,800 people. Naturally, when there were more people, there was a shortage of food and grass, but Liu Shishi could not do anything about weapons and equipment. Understand, it stands to reason that the surrendered troops will bring their own weapons and equipment.
Wei Qian'er explained with a smile: "Commander, the surrendered troops have armor, but that is too little. I am short of 480 heavy muskets and 110 carrying guns. If we can make General Huang Shen It would be even better if you forge a thousand-jin red barbarian cannon for me."
Isn’t this a daydream?
In Suzhou, where did Liu Chengzong go to create a complete set of new weapons?
He said angrily: "Don't expect heavy cannons. Thousand-jin cannons are still possible, but you'd better not use them."…
The generals laughed loudly. Huang Shengxiao, who was currently besieging Jiayuguan, was ordered to cast cannon shells. The purpose of casting cannons was only to make up for the damage of old cannons during use. If they used newly cast heavy cannons, it would only mean that the offensive was contained by the Ming army. .
After saying this, Liu Chengzong turned to Gao Yingdeng and said, "General Gao should have told you about the situation on the front line. If you have any opinions on the upcoming war, feel free to speak out."
This is the main topic of the military discussion.
While Liu Chengzong was speaking, several of Gao Yingdeng's soldiers were laying out wooden figurines on the map, and a line of defense had been deployed at the Gaotai Qianhu Station.
Brigade Commander Yang Yao stared at the map, pondered for a moment and asked: "Commander, the enemy's general Li Hongsi once served in Shaanxi. Do you want to send someone to communicate and try to recruit him to surrender?"
Liu Chengzong knew that Yang Yao was actually asking about the reward.
This means that if Li Hongsi is willing to surrender, what position can the Marshal's Mansion provide to accommodate him? After all, Li Hongsi
Hong Si is no stranger to many generals in the Marshal's Mansion.
"If he is willing to surrender, the commander-in-chief can grant him the post of brigade commander and still lead the original troops." After Liu Chengzong said this, he smiled and said, "Can anyone recruit him to surrender?"
Liu Chengzong was not optimistic about the idea of recruiting Li Hongsi to surrender, because this person was indeed no stranger to the generals of the Marshal's Mansion. However, the problem was that Yang Yao, Gao Yingdeng and others knew Li Hongsi, but Li Hongsi may not know them.
What's more, it would have been more difficult for a former subordinate to persuade his superior to surrender.
But no one expected that Yang Qi suddenly spoke. The guy cupped his fists and said, "Commander!"
"Oh?" Liu Chengzong said happily: "Can General Yang go and persuade you to surrender?"
Yang Qi's head shook like a rattle: "No, I will recommend General He to go and persuade Li Hongsi to surrender."
He Huchen was looking at the map in a trance. He was studying military issues very seriously, his brows were knitted together, and he lamented that Yang Jiamo had a vicious vision.
Suddenly, he seemed to hear someone calling him. He looked up with a confused look on his face, and saw that all the generals in the official office were looking at him sympathetically: "Huh?"
He had no idea what was going on, so he held his fists and opened his mouth: "Commander, Yang Jiamo is not easy to deal with with his old military skills. I will fight for this and decide it quickly."
After saying that, He Huchen felt that the atmosphere was a bit strange. Why were these people still looking at him?
Then Yang Qi, who was beside him, touched him with his elbow and whispered: "General He, that's not what the commander is asking about. You are familiar with Li Hongsi when he surrenders."
He Huchen thought that Li Hongsi and I were not familiar with each other!
After being stunned for a moment, he finally realized what was going on. He had been recommended for a long time.
Although he had known for a long time that Yang Qi beside him was not a thing, He Huchen felt that he still underestimated the extent to which he was not a thing. He Huchen clasped his fists and said: "Commander, the general and Li Hongsi have just discussed things together, so we can't talk about it. We are familiar with each other, and the general is really not familiar with General Yang Qi. We just happened to be colleagues, so he doesn’t understand me.”
After saying that, he realized that his speech was a bit stiff, so he clasped his fists and said, "If the commander needs it, I can write a letter of persuasion to surrender to Li Hongsi, but he has a bad temper and quarrels with everyone, so he may not be willing to surrender."
Wang Chengen, who was on the side, watched the two of them joking, and then he said: "Li Hongsi does have a weird temper, but he is hard-working and uncomplaining about the court's orders. I'm afraid it will be difficult to persuade him to surrender. The general thought that it was better to have troops and speed, so he quickly defeated his defense line and defeated him." Prevent Yang Jiamo from joining him."….
Liu Chengzong just laughed off this. He could see that of the three general officers, Yang Qi had the strongest desire to perform and could lead troops as soon as possible, but he was not very reliable.
As for He Huchen and Wang Chengen, they were the truly reliable people, but Liu Chengzong was more willing to find opportunities for Wang Chengen to lead the troops, while He Huchen was more inclined to train officers and troops.
After all, apart from his son in Qinghai, He Huchen's family records are all in Baoding. Liu Chengzong doesn't know what Emperor Chongzhen's treatment of his family records is. He is probably in prison. If everyone is executed, He Huchen can lead the army.
It is almost their consensus that the war should be resolved quickly. Gao Yingdeng, Wei Qian'er, Zhang Tianlin, Feng Yu and others all have the same view. These people don't care how to fight, they only care about whether they are allowed to fight.
Because to some extent the generals of the Ming Army and the generals of the Marshal's Mansion had the same views on strategic choices, they would choose to fight quickly whenever they had the opportunity.
In this case, Li Hongsi ran over in a hurry, braked suddenly and built fortifications on the spot, which meant that he did not have enough confidence to win, so he turned to passive defense.
It's just that Liu Chengzong doesn't know the reason why Li Hongsi turned to the defensive for the time being. Because there are too many reasons, including insufficient troops, uneven armor, and low military morale? It's possible.
This era lacks objective conditions for making plans and taking action later.
Just when Liu Chengzong was about to issue an order to attack the enemy, he noticed the surrendered general Hu Zhishen standing at the end of the official hall, eager to try.
To be honest, Liu Chengzong did not have any expectations for Suzhou's surrender. Wang Yanming, the only commander with military ability among the generals left behind in Suzhou, was killed during the uprising, and Hu Zhishen, a hereditary commander, did not lead any troops. experience.
Count on him for military matters,
It's basically a luxury.
However, Liu Shizi felt that since he had called him over and looked at his eagerness to give it a try, he wanted Hu Zhishen to say something to increase his sense of belonging, so he said, "General Hu has something to say? Speak freely."
Hu Zhishen wanted to say something, but he really wanted to say it. As soon as the surrounding generals looked away, Suzhou Guard's useless little snack became nervous again. He took two steps forward and managed to organize his words for a long time.
Liu Chengzong thought to himself: How can he be a battalion general with this appearance?
He consoled him: "General Hu, we are all our own people. Don't worry too much. Just say whatever you want. It doesn't matter if you don't say it well."
After receiving Liu Chengzong's assurance, Hu Zhishen nodded one after another, and then said: "Commander, generals, I don't know whether I should talk about this or not. It seems to have nothing to do with the war... It's Li Hongsi, the deputy commander-in-chief of Suzhou. , I haven’t been to Suzhou since I took office, I guess he doesn’t know his way around.”
Liu Chengzong was dumbfounded. He looked at his left and right officers as if they had seen a ghost.
He is the deputy commander-in-chief of Suzhou. If you say he doesn't know the roads in Suzhou, why don't he go to graves and burn newspapers to cause trouble?
Who can believe this?
Wei Qian'er had already looked at Hu Zhishen sadly, thinking that this man was a rebel.
When all the generals in the Marshal's Mansion looked at Hu Zhishen with unkind expressions, it was Wang Chengen who once again jumped out to rescue the general.
Although Wang Chengen also felt that this matter was a bit nonsense, after careful consideration, he still frowned and said: "Commander, Li Hongsi took office until we were ordered to be transferred to Hehuang. He has been suppressing the rebellion in Shaanxi. Has he really been here? The possibility of Suzhou.”….
With Wang Chengen's confirmation, people no longer looked at Hu Zhishen so strangely, but in people's eyes, this matter seemed to be even worse than Hu Zhishen being a rebel.
Liu Chengzong smiled and gave Hu Zhishen a thumbs up: "General Hu is great. This news is indeed our shortcoming. It is very useful. Is there any other news?"
In fact, he didn't know what use the news that Li Hongsi didn't know the way was at present, but he praised Hu Zhishen generously... Too many seemingly powerful people in this world fell into the hands of harmless little people.
What's more, this kind of news may be useful in the subsequent war.
However, Liu Chengzong's praise was of great significance to Hu Zhishen. As a hereditary commander, the military households below him were unworthy and the officers above him were too lazy to pay attention, so no one had ever praised him in his life.
Not to mention that Liu Chengzong still praised him in front of a group of arrogant soldiers, which made Suzhou Wei's useless snack a little excited. He was especially concerned about Liu Chengzong's encouragement. He really wanted to tell him another useful news, but he himself was not sure. What news is useful.
After racking his brains, Hu Zhishen considered it carefully for a long time, and then asked timidly: "Commander, there is something that I shouldn't say. If it is wrong, I hope that the commander-in-chief will be more considerate and don't behave like a lowly official. "
Liu Chengzong nodded. He guessed that Hu Zhishen might have to say something related to the military. He said, "But it doesn't matter."
Hu Zhishen glanced at Yang Yao, Wang Chengen and others cautiously, and then said to Liu Chengzong: "I think it is not appropriate to make a quick decision at this time, especially not to attack the garrison on the high platform to win the victory."
Liu Chengzong was noncommittal about this and did not speak immediately. Song Xian on the side was anxious: "It is not appropriate to win quickly. How can you, General Hu, get rations for an army of 20,000 people?"
No one hoped Liu Chengzong would rush to Ganzhou more than Song Xian.
The entire Suzhou has no more than 10,000 households and 20,000 people. The 20,000 troops of the Marshal's Mansion, as well as war horses and livestock, are stationed here. After their military rations are exhausted, the army of the Marshal's Mansion may not collapse, but the Suzhou Guard will definitely collapse. At that time, it was no longer a matter of forcibly requisitioning supplies, it was about killing people.
After all, Hu Zhishen was a hereditary commander with a different mentality than others. After experiencing the initial nervousness, he became more comfortable after being scolded by Song Xian. He shook his head very calmly and said: "I can't get military rations, but the commander-in-chief, the Great Wall Dunbao is called Dunbao in other places, but only the Gaotai Dunba is called Dam, because Gaotai grows paddy fields, and its specialty is rice."
"There are many rivers and lakes around the platform. There are seven rivers, more than 30 main canals, and countless branch canals. There are many handsome people.
There are so many that there is no way to escape from that place. "
More than just being unable to run away!
The 20 to 30 thousand troops of the Marshal's Mansion spread out and rushed over. They would be separated by canals before they started fighting. Let alone a quick victory, they would be beaten to a draw by a small number of officers and soldiers, which would hurt their morale, or they would be repulsed. Even the artillery had to be thrown over there.
Hu Zhishen brought too many surprises to Liu Chengzong. He first turned his head and glanced at Gao Yingdeng and Ma Xiang. Although he did not say it clearly, the two generals immediately understood. They immediately clasped their fists silently and turned around and left the official office. He ordered the Tang soldiers to sneak into the high platform to explore the geography.
Liu Chengzong then looked at Hu Zhishen again and asked, "Since General Hu knows the geography here, does he have any strategy to defeat the enemy?"
"The commander-in-chief overestimates the humble position." Hu Zhishen clasped his fists with an apologetic look on his face: "The humble position has no knowledge and skills, and only has the knowledge of the local natives. By the way, the commander-in-chief suppressed the barbarians and guerrillaed during the Tang Ming Dynasty, and he took my official position."
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Just when Liu Chengzong was wondering why this guy suddenly talked about robbing an official position, Hu Zhishen explained: "Zhenyi is a lonely fortress. In the past, thieves often crossed through Zhenyi, which was particularly dangerous. Now that the trappers have been eliminated, the pirates have not appeared. That year, there was a vacancy for the general of Zhenyi, and there was someone who wanted to take this humble position. However, the court stuck to the old path, saying that the general of Zhenyi must be a brave and strong man, and chose Tang Mingshi, who was born in a hundred households in Liangzhou."
Hu Zhishen's meaning is obvious: The court calls me a coward, and the commander-in-chief wants to give me a break.
"enough!"
Liu Chengzong applauded and said: "General Hu has already told us the secret of our army's victory. If the geography of the high platform and the character of the defender are as General Hu said, you should be the first to win this battle."
After saying that, Liu Chengzong leaned over and pressed the map, and said to the crowd: "Sun Tzu said in the Art of War that those who are good at fighting will kill others without killing them... Everyone, mobilize them and let them come out of their holes to fight with me!".
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